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Bubbly Anyone?

edited December 23 in Other Investing
Renowned economist worried

"Steve Hanke, a veteran economist and applied economics professor at Johns Hopkins University, said there are two significant problems in the US economy and markets that are keeping him from getting a good night's sleep. One is inflation, which he thinks could start to spiral out of the Fed's control".

The other is high stock prices, which will start crashing back to earth, he told Business Insider.


I don't know if Hanke is right. But he's not alone. Several publications have sounded the alarm.

The Guardian

The Motley Fool

Axios / OECD

Comments

  • Robert Reich released a You Tube Five days ago explaining why the AI bubble may well pop.
  • Economists and predictions...
    What can possibly be wrong.
  • edited December 24
    Re - ”Economists and predictions …
    What can possibly be wrong”.



  • edited December 25
    US equities are too richly valued these days. Something will happen, sometime in the future, and prices will fall. My funds are all in the IRA, except for a bond fund I'm slowly growing. Taxable has the single-stock holdings. Oh, ya: there's a single ETF holding nothing but Singapore companies in the taxable, too.
  • edited December 25
    The popping of bubbles is exceedingly rare. They can occur in virtually any asset or market sector and have been known to occur in real estate, junk bonds, stocks and tulip bulbs among other things. Their existence are so difficult to identify that to declare one's existence sounds about as absurd as an early Homosapian standing in front of his cave proclaiming the earth to be round.

    The linked video is brief, comprising the opening minutes of the final 1999 episode of popular and widely acclaimed Wall Street Week With Louis Rukeyser. Lou was an outspoken bull having recently dismissed Gail Dudack from a key program role due to her bearish views. The 4 "experts" on the esteemed panel, including a much younger Liz Ann Saunders, all forecast that 2000 would be another banner year for stocks. We know what ensued 2-3 months later ...

    Stocks got clobbered. The NASDAQ peaked at 5048.62 in March 10, 2000 and bottomed at 1114.11 in October 2002. It took about 15 years for it to return to the 2000 high.

    "The NASDAQ Composite index bottomed at 1,114.11 on October 9, 2002. This marked the lowest point following its peak of 5,048.62 in March 2000, representing a decline of nearly 80 percent. The index remained at this low level until it recovered to its previous all-time high in March 2015." (BING AI).

    My observation is that most investors today have a time horizon about equal the life span of a tsetse-fly. I cannot imagine them sitting on a falling etf, oef, stock or other asset for anything approaching 15 years. Hence, there will be heavy bailing when the next bubble pops. As usual, @FD1000 will have sold and moved to cash the day before.

    I would not bet on a bubble bursting in 2026 or any other year. Your odds of picking the correct year are about 1 in 10. Bubbles take years or decades to grow but deflate much faster. I haven't sold everything and run to cash. Sitting at 33% in equities / 10% real assets. Probably age appropriate. But I suspect you're getting "paid to wait" with a lot of assets at this point.

    Happy Holidays to all the good folks at MFO,
  • beebee
    edited December 25
    @hank
    great points... reminded me of the saying:
    "The market climbs the stairs up and then takes the elevator down!"
  • Happy holidays to everyone! May 2026 brings joy and perhaps brighter future to this chaotic world.
  • Sven said:

    Happy holidays to everyone! May 2026 brings joy and perhaps brighter future to this chaotic world.

    Russia invaded Ukraine twice, first during the Obama administration and later during Biden’s. The war has now lasted about 3.5 years and is the largest conflict in Europe since World War II.

    Israel was attacked from Gaza during Biden’s presidency, resulting in the killing and torture of 1,200 innocent people and triggering major unrest across the Middle East.

    The U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan under Biden, leaving 13 American soldiers dead and billions of dollars’ worth of equipment behind.

    The southern border was left open, allowing millions of illegal immigrants to enter, including thousands with criminal records.

    We also experienced the highest inflation in four decades, causing financial stress and anxiety for millions of people.

    Yes, it was a chaotic time.
  • Remember not to feed the troll. ...
  • Crash said:

    Remember not to feed the troll. ...

    +1
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